Nautilus N802 versus NHTM1 voice matching

[digitalman]

Hi, i recently acquired a Nautilus setup with N802 and NHTM1 center channel. I am curious for other owners to ask how well yours match. Being very old I have no way to tell what they are "supposed" to sound like. When I play Pink noise for level calibration from my receiver the center sounds noticeably "brighter", louder, and a bit more "harsh" to me compared to the mains. Is that normal?
I know the tweeters are the same model and the midrange is the same size, but it is a different part number? Is it tweaked differently to be more suited for movie dialog rather that to voice match the 802 mains?
Testing eagles back and forth from DTS to stereo the voices sound better from the mains than the center to me.
I swapped things around and connected my pre-out from my main channel to the center to make sure it was a fair comparison and nothing was amiss in my receiver or amp.

Thanks

[madmac]

Even when the center channel speaker uses the same drivers and driver composition as the mains, it will sound somewhat different because it is usually not located on the same horizontal plain. It's either higher or lower than the mains, above or below the TV.

I usually find below the TV a better spot for center channels because it will give the center a little more bass umph.....especially for concerts. Experimentation in speaker location is always best in getting the best performance out of them however.

[TomScrut]

The marlan head makes a difference too, that's why it's there!

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

[digitalman]

thanks for the advice, I am using a projector so there is no tv in the way.

Yes it makes sense that the Midrange in the marlan head on the 802 is going to sound "better"

I understand that my mains will sound better than my center, they are larger and higher quality speakers. My issue is that to my ears it sounds like it is playing a higher "pitch"

I don't know if this will work but i took my audyssey mic and made a quick recording of the pink noise coming from my left,center, and surround speakers.

you can hear what I am talking about (hopefully) Maybe I am just nuts and maybe this is what it is supposed to sound like. I just wondered if other people who own these have the same results or is there something wrong with my center channel sound.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7cl9TJYPpoxY1FXR0ljaHBZWkU/view?usp=sharing

this is the wave file i recorded, first is my left main, next is my center, and third is my HSCM1 left surround.

When I am listening to music and i switch from the 5.1 mix to the stereo mix the voice is really different by a lot, its much higher from the center and I don't like it at all in comparison.


Thanks

[madmac]

Wow....that is quite a difference in the center channel. It sounds 'shiller' and certainly louder. I would lower the volume of the center channel even if the SPL meter says it's the same. Are you able to adjust tone controls of each of your speakers separately?. I believe I can do that with my Rotel if I wanted to. Trimming the treble a bit on the center could help immensely.

[digitalman]

Wow....that is quite a difference in the center channel. It sounds 'shiller' and certainly louder. I would lower the volume of the center channel even if the SPL meter says it's the same. Are you able to adjust tone controls of each of your speakers separately?. I believe I can do that with my Rotel if I wanted to. Trimming the treble a bit on the center could help immensely.

Audyssey calculates it and sets it to -5dB. If i disable audyssey i can manually eq my center and mains separately, however it is a graphic eq in a menu and i can't adjust it while listening. So i would have guess at some levels then back out of the menu and listen.

Maybe to clarify my concern some more what happened is i had a B&K amp hooked up testing and it fried a channel that was connected to my center and I am concerned it may have damaged the center in some way. However I have no other HTM1 to compare so i can only hope for someone else with the same config can convey how theirs differ for them.

[windshear]

Im not sure how handy you are, if not maybe ask a friend with some electronics experience. I would check out the crossover in the HTM1 to make sure that it is not damaged. I bought a HTM1D second hand, was never fully happy with it. One day while running test tones and measuring outputs I disconnected the external link and saw my bass drivers were running literally full range. The previous owner had managed to burn out a resistor in the crossover. It changed the slope in the crossover and skewed the audio output of the loudspeaker. Once repaired it matches my fronts much closer tonally.

[digitalman]

Im not sure how handy you are, if not maybe ask a friend with some electronics experience. I would check out the crossover in the HTM1 to make sure that it is not damaged. I bought a HTM1D second hand, was never fully happy with it. One day while running test tones and measuring outputs I disconnected the external link and saw my bass drivers were running literally full range. The previous owner had managed to burn out a resistor in the crossover. It changed the slope in the crossover and skewed the audio output of the loudspeaker. Once repaired it matches my fronts much closer tonally.

Thanks, that is kind of what I am getting at, I am worried that the crossover or a driver has been slightly damaged and is causing a slight problem just enough for me to notice.